All that talk of balance in the Big East. All that talk of Villanova’s decline. All that talk of what a wild tournament this would be.

All merely talk. Nothing but hot air.

Villanova remains the class of the conference, even after an exodus of talent to the NBA. Friday night was the latest reminder. Down 10 in the first half and seven in the final minutes of regulation, outplayed for most of the evening, the top-seeded Wildcats still found a way to advance to their fifth straight tournament final, rallying past fourth-seeded Xavier, 71-67, in front of a pro-Wildcat sellout crowd at the Garden.

Gone are Omari Spellman, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo, all now getting paid to play. But that hasn’t changed Jay Wright’s program’s ownership of the league. Eric Paschall’s tip-in of a Phil Booth miss with 7.6 seconds left sent the game to overtime, and the two seniors flashed their championship pedigree there. They dominated the final five minutes, scoring a combined 10 points as the defending national champions won their eighth straight game in the league tournament.

“Those guys are hard to handle,” Xavier coach Travis Steele said. “It starts with their leadership. You can tell on the floor. They’re winners. They’re used to winning.”

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“We’re just really lucky to have those two,” Wright said of his two All-Big East first-team selections. The Wildcats will meet No. 3 Seton Hall on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m., looking to win their third straight tournament crown.

Xavier was in complete control, up seven with 4:44 to go and controlling the game’s slow pace, before Villanova (24-9) made its big run.

Jermaine Samuels started the 10-3 spurt with a 3-pointer and added another one with 49 seconds left, the shot hitting off the front rim, the backboard and dropping in to slice the lead to one. After Xavier’s Zach Hankins split two free throws with 19.9 seconds left, Paschall pulled Villanova even with 7.6 seconds left. On the other end, Naji Marshall was called for a charge, setting up overtime.

In the extra session, Paschall and Samuels sank back-to-back 3-pointers to give Villanova a six-point lead with 2:22 to go. Xavier (18-15) had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but Paul Scruggs (career-high 28 points) and Ryan Welage both badly missed from beyond the arc. The Musketeers lost for the sixth consecutive time in the Big East semifinals.

Down the stretch, handcuffed by Xavier’s physical defense, Villanova’s offense devolved into streetball. Give Booth (28 points, seven rebounds, five assists) the ball and get out of the way. Let him create. And it worked. He either scored, got to the free throw line or set up his teammates. The Musketeers’ offense, meanwhile, broke down into contested shots late in the shot clock, making just one of their last six shots and committing two turnovers over the final 4:44.

“We just put it in Phil’s hands, and it’s kind of embarrassing to say as a coach, we didn’t have any offense left,” Wright admitted. “When he got hot, it forced them to leave [other guys], and then he found people for threes.”

And, soon, Villanova would be celebrating another Big East Tournament victory in the Garden. Chants of “Let’s go ’Nova” rang out throughout the arena. The players have changed, but the results haven’t.